mairi and ben

Now... THIS is how you do a wedding. We've been working with Mairi and Ben for a while, helping them shape their day with our favorite vendors and locations, but they needed help with little else. A highly organized couple, they are tied for first place for 'most organized' this season. Google docs, a website, a wedding email address, etc. Wow. Add to this a kick-off with wish lanterns (SO cool) on their pre-party at a lakeside cabin the night before, a beach wedding, post-wedding tour via trolley, a unique location for a reception, AND a sparkler-lit exit at the end of the night. Phew.... Oh, did we mention that Mairi and Ben are completely gorgeous?Rhian HY started their morning with her mad makeup skills, then transitioned to gear sherpa and stuck with our crew until the early night. And what a crew - in addition to Rhian, Louisa shot second, relying heavily on a full-frame D700 and a fast lens, and King shot HD video with an arsenal of Canon DSLRs. It was a maze of logistics, so special thanks as always for Meghan who served as home base / coordinator for not only this crew, but our B team that was shooting another all-day wedding too! Only to Meghan can you text her, asking for a shot list, and it appears in 120 seconds...Mairi was a nicely relaxed morning bride - working through makeup, hair, and dressing like a pro. Her girls were equally compliant, and we shot them in formal and candid shots around the cabin while Louisa chased the guys around the beach as they setup for the ceremony. Oh - completely random: we'd be remiss not to thank Rhian for cleaning up the background in one of the formal setups at the cabin which included touching a spider. She doesn't do that for just anybody. Due to construction and a trolley that had to travel twice from each side of the Keweenaw we were pretty far behind schedule. But that's the beauty of a beach wedding. Nobody really cares - or at least their concern vanishes when a trolley full of a dozen beautiful, screaming, dancing girls shows up. Come to think of it... that would fix just about anything.The beach ceremony was elegant and brief, and we spent probably twice the ceremony time playing in the fog that rolled up on the Lake Superior shoreline. Fog is fun. You can get lots of different effects depending on focal length, distance, and direction to the sun, and both Mairi and Ben were great sports about a variety of scenes - even allowing us to pull their lips apart from each other for a few of them. Bar hopping resulted in tours of the Cliff Bar, the KBC (where beer appears as if by magic for the photogs,) and the Dog. Bubba said he's never seen a rush on pickled eggs before. Shots, yes. Eggs, never.The newly restored Brownstone Hall and its stage, its retro-glitter walls, and its full kitchen allowed for great photography, and a fully plated dinner. We stole the bride and groom for some more photos nearby, danced with them, and wished them well as they passed under an arch of sparklers at their dramatic exit. Well done, guys! Beautiful in all respects.All shots were with Nikkor glass on full-frame bodies, and we used remote strobes inside Brownstone. All other light was natural / reflected, and in some cases - dim enough that ISO 6400 and an f/1.4 was required (and enjoyed!)[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"]

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